Make a Kids' Power Wheel Toy Awesome for $500 (Video)

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You can spend less than $500 if you like. That's the maximum amount allowed if you're competing in the Power Racing Series. Interviewee Josh Lee is a member of the Southern Polytechnic State University Electric Vehicle Team. The modified electric 'ride on' toy they showed off and raced at Maker Faire Atlanta (where this video was made) is just one of their many projects. And, obviously, they're just one of many 'slightly deranged' teams involved in learning about and building electric vehicles. (Alternate Video Link)

Tim: Josh, we are here at Maker Faire with this ribbon festooned scooter here. Can you talk a little bit about what this is?

Josh: Okay. So we raced in a series called Power Wheel Racing Series. It is actually the first time we came to Atlanta to Maker Faire. It is basically you take a power wheel like any kid would drive and you have a $500 budget to make it as awesome as you can make it. Make it last and run as long as you can. And so the races were we had two little spread races that you just go laps, whoever wins wins, we were actually placed third in both those races. Today we finished our endurance race which is a 75 minute long race. And we finished fifth in that but overall we got third in everything.

Tim: So how long has the research and development, manufacturing, how long has it all taken for you?

Josh: A lot of the teams out there have been working on theirs since July or August time. We started ours on Monday morning and now it is Sunday, it's almost a week of development, but we did a couple of late nights.

Tim: Maybe that’s why you only came in third.

Josh: Yeah, I can’t complain, we came in third. Five days to put it together.

Tim: Talk about what’s inside.

Josh: So what’s inside of it is we have 3 deep cycle Global batteries. We have 3 deep cycle Global batteries and to a 1200 watt 24 to 60 volt controller that powers _____ up to 1000 watt 48 volt motor. And we decided that we wanted to make it look cool, so we actually ran an Arduino and put LEDs inside this, at night it lights up and everything it looks pretty cool.

Tim: Do you have any duct tape on it?

Josh: Oh, there was plenty. There was tape everywhere. Prototyping is the main thing.

Tim: Here is your zip ties, there is your duct tape

Josh: But we had something to finish third. It is pretty awesome for us.

Tim: What is your top speed on this do you know?

Josh: Right now it is 13 miles an hour, we had a GPS top speed thing, but we haven’t geared the torque. Actually if it is fully charged, we can do more than that.

Tim: And with the batteries you have got in there, what is your actual duration?

Josh: We went like 35 to 40 minutes today at full throttle without having to recharge, then it started to die off after that point, so it goes through an hour at full throttle, you are pretty much dead with these batteries, if we had more, we'd last longer.

Tim: Alright. Now does your team make some more longer term project cars as well?

Josh: Oh yes. Actually we had an electric S10 we built a few years ago, and then we have an electric racing motor cycle and an electric go cart. The go cart has about a 35- 40-mile range. The bike has a 30-mile range during race conditions, and about 100 miles if you wanted to ____ with it.

Tim: Was this just as fun as working on those?

Josh: Yes, it was fun. It was a lot easier. You don’t have to worry about programming and all that stuff. Just put wires and have fun.

Tim: What will be the fate of this bike here?

Josh: We are going to put a lot more batteries on it. We will probably put another sidecar on and have it be our tool cart for other vehicles.

As a parent...

[damn_registrars]

The thing that power wheels toys really need is remote controls. When your kids are learning to drive them the kids are too capable of getting them stuck on dumb stuff and not capable enough of getting them back out. A remote control - especially one that could put the thing into reverse - would be a huge benefit.

Re:

[sexconker]

My brother tried to kill me by reversing and running over me in his power wheels truck.
The remotes should be a simple kill switch.

Re:As a parent...

[LordKronos]

In theory, that's a brilliant idea. However, you know the reality of an actual implementation would be an unsecured/poorly secured communications protocol resulting in some sick teenagers being able to remotely drive some unsuspecting kid out into the street.

Re:

[LordKronos]

Like I said...sick teenagers. I'm sure slashdot has plenty of them (and plenty of the adult variety, too)

Re:

[epyT-R]

Nah.. not enough of an impact. If/when self driving cars become the norm, then expect it. A much bigger impact means much more infamy.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:

[drinkypoo]

This is also why I am against any trafic rules. If we would get rid of them, in only a few hundred generations, we would have drivers who have extremely fast refelxions on avoiding accidents as well as pedestrians who can jump out of the way with enourmous speed.

That's way too slow.

This is already happening as driving has become safer and safer over the years Less accidents per mile.

The cars are safer in literally every way, and that has been the general trend. Some of the safety features are designed to help prevent accidents, not just mitigate them.

Re:

[wiredlogic]

Yeah. Wouldn't want to be bothered being an involved parent.

Re:

[Firethorn]

How is having a kill switch or a remote control for your kid's little EV NOT being an involved parent? In order for the thing to be of any use you have to be watching.

Sure, it extends the leash a bit, but not even out of sight.

Re:

[SkimTony]

I think the real key is how fast these things go vs. how fast parents can move. If the toy can drive faster than most parents can catch up on foot, the value of the remote off-switch goes up.

Re:

[Firethorn]

First, 'faster than most parents can go' is pushing how fast I'd want a little tyke vehicle to go. I mean, are we equipping it with a proper seat, a seatbelt, roll cage, impact bumper, etc...?

Second, yeah, the faster the vehicle the more valuable a kill switch would be. Heck, get fancy with it and have it shut down if the tyke exceeds X distance from the control. IE if it starts getting far enough that the parent's control might not be able to reach it, turn off anyways, at least until the parent catches

Re:

[rasterboy]

Thanks for attempting to steer the discussion back on track.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

when we used to put a lawnmower motor on a cart made of scavenged pipes and bike weels, it cost about 150 bucks, no one gave a shit.

Not true... YOU did.

I had hours of fun putting a 2-stroke on the back of a kid's push-scooter back in the day -- motor turned a wheel that was pressed securely against the back wheel of the scooter. This was back before bike helmets and kneepads; looking back I'm amazed the whole thing never went up in flames and everyone survived.

But yeah; I don't recall spending more than $30 on the thing; it was all cast-off parts rigged to work again. Braking involved turning off the gas flow; starting involved gettin

Re:

[epyT-R]

Thank you. Exactly. People are pantywaists about safety these days. That's what we get for letting effeminate pussies make policy and media.

Re:

[phizi0n]

It says (video) in the title so that's fair warning but they ought to switch over to html5 video tag so that it could actually load on mobile and other platforms without flash.

I'm just waiting for the day when they figure out how to record sound properly.

Re:

[wonkey_monkey]

Why the fuck is Slashdot trying to load a Flash plugin on here?

So it can present the video it wants to present. Why the fuck shouldn't it? Get over yourself. You've got plenty of options (including using flashblock, uninstalling Flash, or not clicking on links that have "(video)" on the end) if you don't wish to be assaulted by this non-auto-playing video, oh the horror.

I don't expect embedded movies and shit ON SLASHDOT...

Oh, so sites must never change or try new things so as never to upset your expectations? Is everyone making note of this?

Re:

[epyT-R]

videos replacing prose for the frontally compromised is not a new idea. It sucks.

Re:

[wonkey_monkey]

So you only read newspapers and never watch TV news, then?

It sucks.

That's your opinion. Slashdot differs, and it's their website.

Re:

[drinkypoo]

Why the fuck is Slashdot trying to load a Flash plugin on here? I expect that seedy behavior if I go click the Facebook links, I don't expect embedded movies and shit ON SLASHDOT...

You must be new here. Go away noob, we've had videos on slashdot for ages now.

Can't hear a bloody word!

[wonkey_monkey]

The guy seems to be mic'd up, but it sounds like all we're hearing is some very muddy audio from the camera's very un-directional mic. I can barely hear him over the background chatter.

Next time, take five minutes to check you've got everything set up right first, eh?

Re:

[Trax3001BBS]

well-known by clicking here

/. is one of the few if not the only places one can post as Anonymous, this ability makes it as unique as it's articles (one stop catch up area).

Sad a Coward like you post such meaningless drivel with this freedom.

spend less than $500 to drive correctly..

[Dan Askme]

http://vimeo.com/84550345 [vimeo.com]
After watching this, and having a giggle to myself, i wish they would spend that $500 on getting a driving license 1st. All i see is destruction derby.

Re:

[rasterboy]

I reviewed the footage (much of which I shot) and you should realize that while some crashes/contact is shown, the race is one part entertainment. We pull out the exciting parts and compile the video so you get a taste of the action, but crashes are not as common as you may think. It should also be mentioned that these vehicles are slapped together at hackerspaces, usually using whatever free or cheap parts we can find, and are not precision machines. The endurance portion of the race is 75 minutes long, wh

That looks like a blast!

[backpaindude]

Ok, that looks perfect for a grownup child like me and could even bring my actual children along ;)